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Primary schools in a southern city in Finland are using humanoid robots to teach language and math classes as part of a pilot program.
In the trial, the robot teachers can communicate in English, Finnish and German, and are equipped with software that allows it to understand students’ requirements. The robot can also recognise students’ skill levels and adjust questions accordingly.
Human teachers can then receive feedback about a student’s performance from the language-teaching machines. Teachers who have worked with the robots are optimistic about the technology.
“I think in the new curriculum the main idea is to get the kids involved and get them motivated and make them active,” language teacher Riikka Kolunsarka told Reuters.
The robot language teacher, called Elias, has endless patience for repetition and never makes a student feel embarrassed for asking a question.
Robots like Elias can be used as a tool to explore different teaching practices and expose students to different activities, added Kolunsarka.
“In that sense I think robots and coding the robots and working with them is definitely something that is according to the new curriculum and something that we teachers need to be open-minded about,” she said.
Finnish classrooms will also get to experience math lessons with a robot named OVObot.
The math robot will be trialled for a year, while the language robot is bought by schools, so they can extend its use.
Schools will get one Elias robot and three OVObots as part of the project, which is trying to determine how robots can improve the quality of teaching.
In 2016, Singapore had piloted a similar project in preschools, using two humanoid robots to trial whether robots can teach children in interactive ways. The robots were able to tell stories, dance, play music and encourage collaborative play for the young learners.